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WRITTEN BY 

H. RALPH BURTON 

FOR THE 

AMERICAN ROUMANIAN SOCIETY 



THE ROUMANIAN CAUSE. 

A clear statement of just what Roumania wants at the 
Peace Conference, and why it wants it, is indispensable to 
a complete understanding of that country's racial and politi- 
cal history, and vice versa. Publicity has been given to 
slanderous intimations that for a prize of territory and vain 
political aspirations, Roumania sordidly rushed to the sup- 
port of freedom's cause. Undoubtedly a frank and impar- 
tial resume of just a few of the facts in Roumania's favor, 
relating to her history, to her population, to her social and 
economic conditions and to her ideals will serve toward the 
absolute refutation of any possible aspersions upon that 
country's national honor and integrity, as well as enlighten 
to some considerable extent and possibly revise some exist- 
ing international views upon the Roumanian problem. 

The Roumanian situation is an important problem which 
America, with her allies, must consider when they finally 
gather to complete the details of a world made safe 
for democracy. At that table around which those distin- 
guished envoys shall gather, Roumania does not ask for mere 
territory; she asks not for vain political aggrandisement; 
she only asks for that for which the war was won — 
JUSTICE. Her ideal, her cause, her only hope is the 
union of Roumanians under Roumania, national autonomy, 
democratic progress, political freedom for the promotion of 
the common welfare, and the absolute eradication of a sys- 
tem of despotism which has existed under the Hungarian 
political system. 

Surely, therefore, a plain statement of Roumania/s cause 
is its own good and sufficient justification. Let us consider 
for just a moment who and what are the Roumanians. The 
Roumanian nation numbers about fifteen millions of people, 
slightly more than half of whom live in Roumania as it was 
bounded previously to the war, by Austria and Russia to 



the north, by the Black Sea to the east, and Hungary, 
Serbia and Bulgaria to the west and south, with access also 
through the mouths of the Danube to the Black Sea. It will 
thus be seen that it is situated in the center approximately 
of the mediaeval pathway of commerce and travel from the 
Byzantine Empire to the towns of the north, and that it 
is only reasonable to expect that it will again be one of the 
gateways on the path of commerce and progress stimulated 
by post-war activity. Forty per centum of the Roumanian 
millions have been living under the yoke of Austro-Hun- 
garian oppression and Russian domination. The number 
admitted by the Hungarian authorities would be three mil- 
lion Roumanians, but Hungarian statistics are shamelessly 
falsified, as the Germans themselves acknowledged before 
the war, and it is certain the Roumanian population in Hun- 
gary, before the war, totaled not much less than four mil- 
lion. For instance, the basis of division between the 
Magyars of Hungary and the Roumanians was made a lin- 
guistic one rather than an ethnological one, and the facts 
being that the Roumanian language had been suppressed for 
several years, and the peasantry enslaved, it was not indi- 
cative of much that many thousands said that they '^pre- 
ferred to speak Hungarian." That, under the circum- 
stances, was equivalent to saying that they preferred to be 
let alone. All small children and all mutes were labeled 
"Hungarian." 

The modern Roumanian is a blend of two stocks, the 
Dacians who were conquered by Emperor Trajan at the 
close of the first century, and the Romans. The language 
and many of the popular customs show their Roman an- 
cestry, of which they are very proud. The names of many 
localities in Transylvania bear evidence to the fact that the 
Roumanian claim of first inhabiting Transylvania is well 
founded. 

Geographically, the old Roman conquered province of 
Dacia in which is now Roumania and Roumanians, was com- 
posed of Transylvania, Maramuresh, Crishana and the 
Banat of Temesvar, of which districts the Roumanians now 



lepresent one-half of the total population and particularly 
predominate in the rural districts where the Saxons are 
losing prominence. Then there are Moldavia and Wal- 
lachia to which the Roumanians were driven from Transyl- 
vania when the province fell under the Hungarians during 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and which, now in 
the shape of a boot, constitute Roumania proper. Dobrogea 
furnishes access to the Black Sea, while Bessarabia to the 
northeast, since 1878 under Russian domination, now, of 
its own accord, has, with its three million inhabitants, joined 
again with Roumania. Let us not forget, also, Bucowina, 
which with its three hundred thousand Roumanians was lost 
to Austria in 1775, just the year before the first American 
Fourth of July. 

THE ROUMANIAN KINGDOM. 

Having before us now a rather kaleidoscopic panorama 
of the population and where it is, we should consider briefly 
some of the historical facts unequivocally supporting Rou- 
mania's just cause. 

In the first place, we know that the Romanized popula- 
tion of Dacia was forced into the foothills and then into 
the higher lands of Transylvania by the barbarians who 
ravaged Europe and did not stop at the walls of Rome. 
It is too well known for comment here how continual asso- 
ciation under peculiar geographical and climatical condi- 
tions, separated more or less from constant touch with other 
peoples tends to influence lingual characteristics, tempera- 
ment, customs, and even ideals. Thus, while the Rou- 
manians, shut in their mountainous abode, were evolving 
something resembling but not quite approaching national 
sentiment, the invading Magyars from the tenth to the 
thirteenth century subjected gradually the pre-existing Rou- 
manian duchies, and, through that superstitious dread which 
has always served ignorant barbarians in lieu of more 
intelligent respect, they did not in their contact with Rou- 
manian civilization entirely destroy it, but rather adopted 



some of the customs, retained some of the terms of Latin 
derivation, accepted some of the nobles and helped to de- 
velop the existing feudal system. This quite naturally 
resulted in oppression of the conquered race. The Magyars 
were newly won adepts to the Catholic faith, while the 
Roumanians adhered to the orthodox belief. Religious in- 
tolerance was followed by rigorous persecution which was 
directly responsible for the founding by the nobility of the 
Transylvanian duchies across the mountains of the princi- 
palities of Wallachia and Moldavia, now modern Roumania. 

As a barter for unhampered internal development with- 
out which she could do nothing for either herself or her 
extra territorial people, Roumania proper temporized with 
the Central Powers and discouraged nationalist tendencies 
for a time. However, as the late King Carol said, "No 
nation ever consents to be bereaved of its political aspira- 
tions." Moreover, the internal development was not un- 
hampered by Magyar jingoism nor by the aggressive po- 
litical and foreign policy of Austria-Hungary. 

The war has left the situation practically unchanged 
except that the hopes of the Roumanians, together with 
admitted valiant achievements on the battlefield, have 
attained a climax. 

The influence of the landed nobility, "the boeri," was all- 
powerful in Roumania until the reigning prince, Alexander 
Cuza, about the year 1860 forced land reform laws, pro- 
cured universal suffrage — an untimely measure which later 
had to be rescinded — and passed protective legislation to 
prevent unwise alienation of the peasants' lands. The 
period of restriction against alienation was temporarily 
extended in 1914 by the war. 

The voters were divided into three colleges or classes, 
graded by wealth and education, illiterate peasants being 
allowed to vote only through delegates. This method of 
representation seemed to the advanced parties unsatisfac- 
tory and inadequate, and the general elections of 1913 
brought into power a majority pledged to a much extended 
franchise. This was emphasized by the King's address at 

8 



lashi (Jassy) last December before the Roumanian Parlia- 
ment, when he said : 

"The peasants should know that they are fighting for 
national unity as well as for political and economic freedom. 
Their valor gives them still stronger rights to the soil they 
have been defending, and imposes on us more strongly than 
ever the duty of carrying through, when the war is over, 
the agrarian and electoral reforms on the basis of which 
this representative assembly was elected." 

The world is beginning to recognize the international 
importance of the Roumanian situation not only along eco- 
nomic lines of progress, but also politically. It is true that 
Roumania has largely benefited in the past from German 
capital and German science, that being a good business deal 
for Germany, but they, of course, never received any en- 
couragement in their fight for national unity against Hun- 
garian oppression. Under the geographical situation in 
which that country is placed, she must, like Italy, be either 
the ally or the enemy of Germany, and it is, therefore, 
incumbent upon the allies to insist upon the realization of 
the legitimate aspirations of the Roumanians toward national 
unity for which they risked their entire interest. It is from 
France, Great Britain, Italy and the United States that 
Roumania has drawn its political and spiritual inspiration 
and it is to those countries at the peace table that Roumania 
looks for justice and freedom. 

The political situation of the past explains why during 
the present war the Roumanians of Transylvania deserted 
the Austro-Hungarian armies and entered the armies of 
the allies or the armies of Roumania. Connected with the 
fight of the Transylvanian Roumanians for their freedom 
was in the last century the struggle of the Roumanians from 
Bucowina. The history of this province is different from 
that of Transylvania. She was always a part of the Mol- 
davian principality; even the capital of Moldavia was in the 
present Bucowina. Austria took it from Moldavia in 1775 
by bribing the Turkish and Russian delegates. From that 
time the Roumanians, three hundred thousand people, had to 



suffer the same oppression as their Transylvanian kinsmen. 
The difficulty was that while the Transylvanian Roumanians 
were oppressed by the Hungarians the Roumanians of Buco- 
wina were oppressed by the Austro-German officials of the 
Hapsburg emperors. 

TRANSYLVANIA AND THE BANAT. 

Since the thirteenth century the Roumanian peasants of 
Transylvania that had not followed their chieftains across 
the mountain border, suppressed by the Magyars, Szeklers 
and Saxons, have attempted many revolts and their history 
is full of pitiful struggles to throw off masters who refused 
to regard them as more than serfs. In 1784, there was a 
peasant revolt led by Horea, who was broken on the rack. 
The right of petition was denied to them and more revolts 
followed. But the peasantry who formed the backbone of 
the revolt were handicapped by absolute lack of experience, 
by lack of a national ideal, and by lack of a capable leader. 

One of the myriads of lessons we learn from the phi- 
losophy of history is that no nation can succeed, the aspira- 
tions of whose people are not encouraged and strengthened 
by some national sentiment or unity to which those people 
can give expression. The Roumanians found theirs in the 
following manner: in consideration for certain privileges 
guaranteed by the Hapsburg Emperor, Leopold I, a part 
of the Roumanian clergy in Hungary was led in the thir- 
teenth century to recognize the supremacy of the Roman 
Church, and the result was the establishment of the Uniate 
Church whose priests were allowed to visit Rome and who 
there by direct and personal contact with the glories of that 
ancient city were brought to realize vividly that the Rou- 
manians were part and parcel of the great neo-latin com- 
monwealth. Returning to their homes, they, by their 
scholarly addresses and instructions, developed the national 
sentiment. Teaching centers sprang up and the cry soon 
was, "Let the Hungarians go to their own lands and leave 
Roumanian soil for Roumanians." As usual, this spirit of 

10 



liberty provoked a stern repression, but the causes which 
created it remained and it was not long before the wave of 
national revival spread into Moldavia and Wallachia. 

So, when the first wave of national revival sprang up, 
we learn that Transylvanian Roumanians were just as much, 
if not more, the source of it than the Roumanians them- 
selves. Lazar, a Transylvanian Roumanian, established the 
first school that was national, in Bucarest in 1817. This 
school became a place for pilgrimage and indirectly resulted 
not only in the creation of a national press but in the forma- 
tion of a society for the propagation of the national ideal, 
stated in our opening paragraph. More Transylvanian 
teachers were procured. A Roumanian from Transylvania 
wrote the first dictionary. A Transylvanian poet wrote 
the national song, ''Wake up, Roumanians, from your sleep 
of death." The consequent revolutionary movement was 
suppressed in 1848 by Turkey and Russia. Meanwhile, 
the Magyars were at war with Austria and had drawn up a 
constitution incorporating Transylvania — an autonomous 
principality since 1526 — with Hungary. As the Austrian 
rulers had always been more favorably disposed toward the 
Roumanians than the Magyars, the Roumanians were glad 
to support Austria under the following oath : 

TO DEFEND OUR ROUMANIAN LANGUAGE 
AND RIGHTS, 

TO DEFEND LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRA- 
TERNITY, 

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE PRINCIPLES 

TO RESPECT THE NATIONALITY OF ALL 

THE INHABITANTS OF TRANSYLVANIA, 

•CLAIMING FROM THEM EQUAL RESPECT 

OF MY OWN NATIONALITY, 

I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO DOMINATE ANY- 
BODY AND WILL NOT SUFFER MYSELF TO 
BE DOMINATED. 

11 



The oppression of the American colonists by that Ger- 
man King of England, George III, did not inspire any 
worthier determination by a determined people to be self- 
determined. 

In the racial war that followed, the Russian troops in- 
tervened and put Hungary back under Austrian rule and 
temporarily the Roumanians were restored to some of their 
privileges. The inevitable happened finally and in the de- 
feat at Koniggratz in 1867 Austria was forced to give Hun- 
gary independence, the dual monarchy began, Transylvania 
became enslaved to Hungary, and a system of suppression 
and oppression, political and economic, was resumed. 

The policy of the Magyars toward the Roumanians is 
almost inconceivable on any other than a "Hun'' theory that 
"What is not Magyar, is wrong. It should be, and what 
will not be Magyar will no longer be allowed to be." 

An itemized recital of Magyar outrages on the Rouma- 
nians would consume entire chapters. Among other things, 
they deprived the Roumanians of the right of meeting, 
allowed no literary or artistic societies ; in short, nothing that 
might tend to unify them. All children from three to*' five 
were forced to attend Hungarian schools and receive all their 
instruction in the hated oppressor's tongue, and the ma- 
jority of the older pupils were forced by necessity to attend 
Magyar schools inasmuch as the State gradually shut down 
all the others. Thus we see that illiteracy was the heritage 
of independent spirit and therefore a credit instead of a 
discredit, where we find it among the Roumanians of Hun- 
gary. Nevertheless, by extreme sacrifices, they succeeded 
in still having 5,300 schools by 1905. Unfortunately, in 
1907 the passage of the Apponyi law closed down all schools 
wherein the teaching of "Hungarian" was considered in- 
sufficient, 2,800 Rumanian schools being then suppressed. 
No more than five secondary schools have been allowed to 
be established. 

Human beings can tolerate much as long as they feel that 
their spirit is free to worship the Supreme Being in their 
own particular way. The masters found that the church 

12 



services were of some value in strengthening the Roumanian 
nationality in the border zone of mixed nationality between 
Transylvania and the plain of Hungary proper, and as 
promptly as that was discovered it was discontinued and the 
services thenceforth in a part of the Greek Catholic Church 
were forced to be conducted in Hungarian, all those pro- 
testing being imprisoned. The press was, of course, under 
strict censorship. 

It may occur to the reader to ask why the Transylvanian 
Roumanians did not attempt in some constitutional manner 
to redress their wrongs or improve their condition. The 
fact was that they were defrauded of almost every electoral 
privilege in the first place by electoral laws special to Tran- 
sylvania and much more restrictive than those of Hungary 
proper, and secondly, by unexampled pressure and govern- 
mental terrorism, which explains why, according to Hun- 
garian statements, it was necessary to employ ''only 194 
battalions of infantry and 114 squadrons of cavalry" to pre- 
serve order at the 1910 Transylvanian election. 

BESSARABIA. 

Bessarabia, somewhat more than 17,000 square miles in 
extent, has natural boundaries on practically all sides, viz., 
the River Pruth to the West, the Danube and Black Sea to 
the south, and the River Dniester to the north and east. 
The only undefined boundary is the small neck of land to 
the northwest. A glance at the map will show that Bessa- 
rabia is bordered on three sides by Roumanian lands. 

The rulers of Wallachia (southern Roumania of today) 
from earliest history to the eighteenth century belonged to 
the great house of Bessarabia. The Bessarabs, in the four- 
teenth century, occupied not only Wallachia and Dobrogea 
but also the plains north of the Danube delta. 

When the Turks invaded this country in the fifteenth 
century and found the power in the hands of the Bessarabs, 
they gave it the name of Bessarabia. 

In 1465, Stephen the Great, most famous of the Princes 

13 



of Moldavia, defeated the Wallachian contemporary, drove 
him from southern Bessarabia, and took possession of the 
ports of Kilia and Cetatea Alba (now Akkerman). These 
ports proved of great value to the Moldavians, who traded 
largely through them (by means of Genoese merchants) 
with western Europe. However, Moldavia was later forced 
to cede these ports to Turkey, who greatly benefited, as 
they were on her way to the Crimea and Tartary, though 
Moldavia retained all the country now known as central and 
northern Bessarabia. 

In 1813, by the treaty of Bucharest, Turkey, her repre- 
sentatives being bribed by the Russians, ceded all Bessa- 
rabian territory occupied by her, as well as the part of 
Moldavia east of the Pruth, to Russia. The latter she had 
no right to do, as Moldavia was autonomous, but Moldavia 
was too weak to resist. 

In 1812, Bessarabia had only 340,000 inhabitants, as the 
population had been terribly reduced by continuous wars, 
the plague and cholera. Save for the southeastern portion, 
where some foreigners settled during Turkish domination, 
the population was purely Roumanian. 

After the defeat of Russia in 1856, the Congress of Paris 
gave back to Moldavia southern Bessarabia, so as to protect 
the Danube from the pressure of the Muscovite Empire. 

In 1877, when a new war broke out between Russia and 
Turkey, Roumania, seeing she would be unable to remain 
neutral, assigned rights to Russia to allow free passage of 
her armies, and in return Russia pledged herself to respect 
the "present territorial integrity" of Roumania. The Rus- 
sians, during the summer, were badly beaten at Plevna and 
called upon Roumania for help, who nobly responded. 
Prince Charles was made Commander-in-Chief and forced 
Osman Pasha, the gallant Turkish leader, to lay down his 
arms. 

Russia, however, broke faith at the end of the war and 
declared she would again despoil Roumania of Bessarabia, 
Roumania protested, and France, England and Italy made 
their appeal to Russia for justice, but to no avail. How- 

14 



ever, intervention of the western powers gave back the 
Dobrogea to Roumania as compensation. 

From 1878 to 1917, Bessarabia remained under Russian 
rule, but when the revolution came the Roumanians in Bessa- 
rabia proclaimed their independence (November, 1917) and 
joined Roumania in April, 1918. 

According to Mr. Irodonez, who has made a deep study 
of the policy of Russia towards her subjected peoples ('Xa 
Russie et les peuples allogenes," Bern, 1917), Russia pro- 
ceeded in Bessarabia as follows : 

"At first (1812) Russia pretended friendly relations, and 
granted a fairly liberal autonomy to the new province. A 
Roumanian noble, Scarlet Sturdza, was appointed Governor, 
and a Council of advisers was given him, being a duplicate 
of the Moldavian diet. Roumanian was the official language, 
and the Moldavian code of laws (much superior to the 
Russian code) was in force. However, the liberal regime 
was of short duration, and in 1816 the Governor's Council 
was transformed into a "Superior Council" under the super- 
vision of the Russian Governor General. In 1828, the Su- 
perior Council was abolished, and finally in 1834, all power 
vested in the Russian Governor General. At the same time 
Roumanian was excluded from the courts and administra- 
tion, though 75 per cent of the population could speak no 
other language. Furthermore, in 1859, Roumanian was pro- 
hibited in the schools, and no books or newspapers could be 
introduced from Roumania. 

In 1861, when the serfs in Russia were liberated, the 
reform did not affect Bessarabia, for the reason that, with 
the exception of the gypsies, there were no serfs in Bessa- 
rabia or in fact in any Roumanian territory\ Other Russian 
reforms were introduced, but availed nothing, as they did 
not apply to conditions existing in Bessarabia, and in reality 
were the means of destroying the last remnants of autonomy 
that the province still enjoyed." 

The 340,000 souls found in Bessarabia in 1812 were prac- 
tically all Roumanian. The only foreign elements were a 
few scattered Bulgarians, Cossacks, Jews and Tartars. Rus- 

15 



sia, wishing to increase the population and reduce the Rou- 
manian majority, encouraged immigration. In 1814 and 
1816, German, French and Swiss colonies were founded 
and more Bulgarians came in. In 1856, Bessarabia had 
approximately 1,000,000 people, but the Roumanians still 
aggregated nearly 70 per cent. The Russian statistics of 
1891 give us the following records : 

Races. Numbers. Percentage. 

Roumanians 1,090,000 66 % 

Ukrainians 215,000 13 % 

Jews 141,000 8.6% 

Bulgarians 85,000 5 % 

Germans 43,000 2.6% 

Russians 34,000 2 % 

Gypsies 17,000 1 % 

The Roumanian percentage would be greater if it were 
not for the fact that large numbers were deported, and it 
is estimated that today there are 500,000 Roumanians scat- 
tered over southern Russia, the Caucasus, and even as far 
as Siberia. 

The last statistics available give Bessarabia a population 
of 2,604,800 of which 1,897,800 are Roumanians, and the 
balance is composed of Ukrainians, Germans, Bulgarians, 
Poles, Russians, Cossacks, gypsies, etc. The Russians and 
most of the Ukrainians, however, are there only as railway 
employees or members of various branches of the Russian 
administration. 

Having shaken off the Russian yoke, Bessarabia will auto- 
matically relieve herself of many aliens, as practically all the 
peasantry and nobles are Roumanians, while the Bourgeoisie 
largely comprising the people connected with the Govern- 
ment are prevalently non-Roumanian. 

That Bessarabia is fundamentally Roumanian is evidenced 
by the fact that six out of her eight counties have a ma- 
jority of Roumanians, and, furthermore, as soon as she was 
free from Russian domination she returned immediately to 
her ancient allegiance. 

As was stated above,. at first the Russians did not attempt 

16 



to enforce systematic russification. Roumanian was still 
taught, and Roumanian books published if passed by the 
Censor. However, Russian schools were soon opened and 
the Roumanian language excluded. As a result, Bessarabia 
became one of the most illiterate countries of Europe. Com- 
parative statistics show that ten per cent of the population 
of free Roumania was in school attendance, while in Bessa- 
rabia it was only two per cent. The comparison is even 
worse than it appears, for illiteracy is far greater in the 
Roumanian districts than in those where the Germans and 
Bulgars predominate. German might be taught in the 
German village schools, while Roumanian was prohibited in 
all schools without exception. 

The peasantry preferred to keep their children from the 
schools and the effort to Russianize the people failed. How- 
ever, the Roumanians were plunged into mediaeval ignor- 
ance, and, while 63 per cent of the Germans could read, not 
more than 10 per cent of the Roumanians could do so. In 
free; Roumania, however, 60 per cent of the people could 
read. It is an extraordinary fact that there were books in 
the library at Kishineo in practically all European lan- 
guages, though none in the Roumanian tongue that the ma- 
jority of the people could understand. 

The church suffered also, as did the schools. During the 
early Russian occupation, Roumanian services were allowed, 
but ere long schools were established for teaching Russian 
to the clergy, and Roumanian services and music were soon 
forced to give way. Thus, the church lost its influence on 
the people, and the clergy were so poorly remunerated that 
the priests had to spend a greater portion of their time in 
making a livelihood. The other nationalities, however, 
especially the Germans, enjoyed much more liberty in church 
affairs, and their clergy were far better off in a financial 
way. 

However, the spiritual torpor of the Bessarabians did not 
entirely destroy intellectual desire, and under more favor- 
able conditions, some distinguished men were produced, 
namely, the historian Bogdan Alexander Hasden, the liter- 

17 



ary critic, D. Gherea, and General Averescu, the Roumanian 
Commander-in-Chief during the great war, and others. 

When Russia collapsed, Kerensky proclaimed the right 
of autonomy to all subjected nationalities. Immediately, 
Roumanian committees met to organize conditions in Bessa- 
rabia, first opening schools to prepare the people for their 
future work. 

On November 3, 1917, a Roumanian government was set 
up and an Assembly of 147 members, representing the whole 
population, met November 21st at Kishineo. Fervid mani- 
festations of enthusiasm attended this meeting and the 
Roumanian flag was hoisted over the Government buildings. 

Mr. Niculetz, a Rumanian, now a member of the Ru- 
manian cabinet, was elected president. 

A Bessarabian army was organized, schools for teachers 
were opened, and brighter things seemed to be in store 
when the Bolsheviks began to loot the province and the 
people were compelled to call on Roumania for help. Aid 
was immediately given, and on the 9th of April, 1918, the 
Bessarabian Assembly unanimously voted for union with 
Roumania. 

The long-felt aspirations of Bessarabia are now fulfilled. 
Ukrania at first made some objections, but on July 31st, 
1918, accepted the situation. A Ukrainian consul has now^ 
been appointed at Kishineo. That the allies are favorable 
to the union of the Bessarabians with their mothencountry, 
and that the peace conference will take cognizance/^ this re- 
dress of a long-standing injury are regarded by Bessa- 
rabians as certainties. 

THE DOBROGEA. 

The territory now known as the Dobrogea is situated at 
the northeastern extremity of the Balkan Peninsula, and 
lies between the Danube and the Black Sea. The climate 
and general aspects remind one of Southern Bessarabia 
rather than Bulgaria. The southern part of the country is 
dry, barren plains, while to the northward forests, rivers and 

18 



hills appear, and the region of the Danube delta is very 
fertile. It is distinctly a geographical unit, and has been 
known by a name of its own since ancient times. 

Very early the Greeks began to settle in this province, 
and they established many cities, which grew famous for 
their commerce. Then followed the Romans, and from 
these two elements came the modern Roumanians, who have 
withstood all invasions from outsiders and remained a 
hardy people to this day, even though they passed through 
the most terrible oppression. 

Invasion followed invasion. In the seventh century the 
Bulgarians passed through, then the Varegs, then wander- 
ing Turanian tribes. In the eleventh century the country 
was again under Greek domination, but beset by civil wars 
soon lost its prestige, and the Turks began their conquest 
in the fifteenth century and Constanza, the largest port, was 
taken by them in 1445. Turkish immigrants w^ere brought 
in from Asia Minor, and for a time things were fairly 
prosperous, though long Turkish domination began to be 
the ruination of the province, and by 1774, when the Bul- 
garians began to arrive in large numbers, the country was 
in a deplorable state. The Roumanian population, however, 
had endured well, and were a considerable factor in the 
country. 

The Russians and Turks were constantly at war, and for 
a time Russia had control of Dobrogea. However, in 1878, 
Russia annexed Bessarabia, which belonged to Roumania, 
and the Berlin Congress gave Roumania in return Dobrogea. 
That properly is only a restitution, because Dobrogea, when 
the Turks conquered it, was a Roumanian province. 

No sooner was the province ceded to Roumania than a 
great work of reconstruction was begun. Roumanian schools 
and courts were established, roads were built, a health 
department (a thing unheard of previously) organized, hos- 
pitals and clinics formed, and many other institutions ar- 
ranged for. The country, which had been previously sub- 
jected to raids by bandits, was delivered from these depreda- 
tions, and travel made safe for all. The Constanza-Cer- 

19 



navoda Railway was completed, and a new bridge built over 
the Danube which is about 18 miles long. It is to be men- 
tioned especially that this bridge is the only one between 
Belgrade and the Black Sea, a distance of 800 miles. 

One of the greatest attainments under Roumanian control 
is the development of the port of Constanza, which has the 
finest docks in Europe. These docks were twenty-five years 
in building, and makes this one of the most important ports 
in the world. Large tanks have been erected here for the 
reception of petroleum and its products, which are brought 
200 miles by pipe lines. These tanks are fitted with flexible 
conduits over half a mile long, by means of which the oil is 
pumped directly to vessels that lie at anchor in the harbor. 

This port is sufficiently large to accommodate 50 large 
vessels at one time. Storage tanks can care for 132,000 
metric tons of cereals. In the year previous to the war 
1,250,000 metric tons of lumber, petroleum and cereals were 
exported from Constanza. 

Splendid hotels have been erected, and most luxurious 
vessels ply between the port and Constantinople and Medi- 
terranean ports. 

Three hundred and nine common schools have been estab- 
lished since 1879, and several high schools organized. 

During the late war the Bulgarians occupied the Dob- 
rogea, and hoped to retain it; finally they were forced to 
withdraw. Under favorable conditions Dobrogea will 
prove one of the most valuable provinces in the world. 

ROUMANIA AND THE WAR. 

Roumania typifies unstinted sacrifice in the cause for 
which the allies fought so earnestly. While this would be 
convincingly shown by even a casual reference to the facts, 
it is very little known to the people of the United States 
in general. 

Two years ago a London newspaper contained a car- 
toon, illustrating a newsboy in 1935, crying out, ''Roumania 
coming in." This satire indicated the puzzled attitude re- 

20 



garding Roumania. The questions uppermost in the public 
mind were, when and on which side will Roumania enter the 
great conflict? However, long before 1935, Roumania did 
'•'come in" on the side of the allies. 

The first question that arises is, "Was it necessary for 
Roumania to enter the war?" The answer is obviously 
"Yes." 

Other European nations had realized their ideal of con- 
centrating all their people in one state, but there were nearly 
twice as many Roumanians outside the boundaries of the 
free Kingdom as within it, which is shown by the follow- 
ing table : 

7,000,000 Roumanians in Roumania proper. 
4,200,000 in Transylvania, Banat, BucoAvina and parts 

(in Austria Hungary). 
2,000,000 in Bessarabia. 

1,000,000 in the Governments of Kherson and Podolia 
in Russia, across the Dniester. 
500,000 in Macedonia. 
274,000 in Serbia. 

These Roumanians outside the Kingdom were outcasts 
and were subjected to the harshest treatment and persecu- 
tion, especially in Hungary. For instance, in that country 
(which boasts of her liberal constitution) they were denied 
all rights. The Hungarians dreamed of a nation of 
20,000,000 Hungarians, while in reality there were only 
8,000,000 Hungarians, and they endeavored to Magyarize 
14,000,000 Roumanian-Slovaks and Sei'vians by imposition 
of a most Draconian regime. In devising means to this 
end the Hungarians are the most adept of any nation in the 
world. Roumanian representation in the Hungarian parlia- 
ment was made absolutely impossible. 

Freedom of the press was non-existent. If the Rouma- 
nian journalists attempted to publish anything in Hungary, 
they were immediately fined or imprisoned. 

The courts employed the Magyar language (which is 
entirely different from any other European tongue), and 

21 



one can readily realize the ease by which the Roumanians 
could be subjected to the grossest injustice. 

No Roumanian schools were permitted, and no Rouma- 
nian books or newspapers could be introduced. All offices, 
large and small, were held by Hungarians, and all public 
institutions were maintained strictly for the benefit of the 
Hungarians alone. In short, Roumanians were oppressed, 
insulted and despised. 

From the beginning of the war, the Roumanians in Hun- 
gary had only one thought in mind, namely, their libera- 
tion, which was also the ci*y of the Roumanians in Bess- 
arabia, oppressed similarly by Russia. It is well known 
that Russia coveted the Dardanelles and Constantinople, 
v.nd her jealousy of Roumania was growing more intense, as 
their products were very similar and competition was be- 
coming very keen. In the past Russia betrayed Roumania 
so many times and the. Russian aims of conquering Rou- 
mania were always so evident that the Roumanians could 
not have any confidence in their Muscovite neighbor. 

Much has been written about corruption in Roumania by 
German and Russian agents in their endeavors to influence 
public opinion. It is well to be candid about this matter, 
for corruption did exist, and those "for sale" (as has been 
the case even in America) were "bought." The Germans 
in a single instance paid $40,000.00 to a journalist, who 
had been implicated in many shady transactions. Their 
defense for paying such a large sum for an individual was 
that they must buy the few dishonest people, as money 
would not influence those that were honest. While some 
small number of degenerates have betrayed their country, 
there was a sincere current of opinion working in opposition 
to them. With these conflicting forces at work in such a 
small country as Roumania, with the Russian menace to 
reckon with, and the fate of Belgium and Servia looming 
up before them, it is small wonder that a decision to enter 
the war was postponed for two years. 

The German propagandists argued that if they sided with 
Russia, and Russia were victorious, Roumania would be 

22 



exploited in the same way that had happened so frequently 
in the past. Furthermore, if they made war on Austria, 
they would have no opportunity for success, for they had 
no munitions, and it would be impossible for supplies to br, 
sent by the Western allies. On the other hand, if Roumania 
were to join Germany, she could secure all military supplies 
with the greatest dispatch through the clear road of the 
Central Powers. 

The German Military Attache, von Hammerstein, in con- 
versation with Roumanian statesmen, summed up the matter 
as follows : 

''Your army is excellent, your soldiers perfect, you lack 
munitions, your command is not so good. If you join with 
us, we will supply the munitions and perfect your command, 
and in two months' time you will regain all the lost Rou- 
manian provinces. However, if you declare war against 
us, your command will be weaker still, for you will be 
forced to fight with the Russians, who are also short of 
officers and lacking in munitions, and in three months' time 
the entire kingdom will be occupied by German armies." 

It is well to mention here that Roumania was entirely 
lacking in apparatus for modern warfare, such as aero- 
planes, machine guns, gas-masks, etc., and her strategical 
works were all for protection against Russia and not against 
the Central Powers. Her Russian frontier is only 250 
miles long, while the Danube and Carpathian front is over 
1,000 miles long. 

The arguments of German propagandists seemed so 
formidable that reply was difficult. 

However, the Roumanians were perceptive enough to 
realize that Germany was the aggressor, and that right and 
justice were on the side of England and France, Further- 
more, Roumania had been aided in establishing her national 
unity by France, and had largely absorbed French culture. 
They also had absolute confidence in England, and even 
though Roumania must suffer by the alliance, still they felt 
that England would not leave her to the mercy of her 
enemies. 

23 



In the midst of all this confusion and anxiety, Roumania 
took the step, which was fast becoming inevitable, and de- 
clared war on Austria on August 27th, 1916. 

The Roumanians were full of enthusiasm, and for a time 
all went well. Three days after the declaration of war, all 
the passes to Transylvania were occupied, and in a fev/ 
weeks one-third of that province was in the hands of the 
Roumanian army. But the Russians refused any help ; they 
refused even to deliver the machine guns sent to Roumania 
by France. The Roumanian army, left alone, retreated back 
to the Carpathians, defending them gallantly for four 
months. Transylvania was reoccupied by the Hungarians. 
The joy of the Transylvanians was turned to sorrow. So^ 
fierce was the rage of the Hungarians that 15,000 Rouma- 
nians, who had sided with their kinsmen, were slain. 

In Roumania proper, the people were soon to experience 
the horrors of warfare with the German-Hungarian-Bulgar 
army. Bucharest, the Paris of Eastern Europe, renowned 
the world over for its civic attractiveness, was bombarded 
constantly by zeppelins and aeroplanes. The Roumanians, 
however, fought valiantly against the German-Turkish - 
Bulgarian invaders from the South and the German-Magyar 
invaders from the North. Bulgaria had been aided by 
Roumania in the past in gaining her liberty from Turkey, 
and had made faithful promises never to attack her lib- 
erators. However, her promises availed nothing. Do- 
brogea, to the southeast, was lost; the Roumanians had 
a struggle on two fronts. Forced to withdraw from Tran- 
sylvania to defend the southeastern front, they were slowly 
compelled to retire v\^ithin their own borders. But reach- 
ing that point, they held fast, and all attempts of the 
enemy to break through the Carpathian passes were for 
the time being futile. Russia sent some troops, but the 
officers were so indifferent to the cause that the Rou- 
manians were practically fighting alone. For four months 
they withstood with terrible losses. Finally, Mack- 
ensen entered from the south and Falkenhayn from the 
northwest. There was no other course for the Roumanians 

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